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My Nano Reefs Part Thirteen - 3/11 to 8/11

Last Updated: 9/27/11

On 3/5/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 76.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.11
6 Gallon Tank: 75.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.04
Make up water: 75.4 degrees F, 1.0245 SG, pH 8.16

On 3/12/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 75.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.98
6 Gallon Tank: 75.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.98
Make up water: 75.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.15

The morning of 3/12/11 and also a few days before, when all the aquarium lights came on, the 12 gallon nano tank's lights did not come on. They are run by two separate lines that go to a transformer. Both fans were working. I pulled the connection going in the transformer and stuck it back in. That fixed it the first time. The second time, I had to do that repeatedly to get the lights to come on. I am not sure what is wrong!

I tried calling 3/14/11 to order but got a busy signal so I e-mailed them. The guy said it is a ballast in there and which to order. I asked if it would be hard to change; he said no. I tried to order it on 3/15/11 but it said I had an account (under both e-mails) and would not let me retrieve my password. I e-mailed him again. He said just to call on 3/16/11 but it was late so I planned to try in the morning. The next morning, 3/17/11, the lights failed to come on no matter what I did. The 12 gallon then was in the dark. I remembered a third e-mail I could use and placed an order for two day rush for an extra $20+. The order said it might not be in stock so I called. I got a machine and left a message. They e-mailed that it was in stock but that the "two day" will not arrive until Monday since FED-X will not deliver on Saturday! This is totally ridiculous. My corals are going to die so I have to rig something else up. I will pull out the extra 6 gallon lid and see if the lights work (they did not which is why I got another). If it does, I will try to jam it under the 12 gallon lid. There will be more evaporation, snails will probably try to drive away, and my cat will gladly stick her foot in there. It will have to do for now. It should not take a full week from when I decided to act on the problem before it will hopefully (do not know yet!) be resolved.

I put the 6 gallon lid backwards over the 12 gallon and taped the 12 gallon lid to the wall for the day time. At night, I have to take it down so the night lights can work. The right moonlight is out on the 12 gallon, and the LED is not even a year old!

On 3/19/11, I did the usual. The Duncan coral is really suffering with about a third as much light. More than half of the polyps have not opened in over a month. The ones that were still opening have not done much more than peek since the lights died. All the other surviving corals in the 12 gallon are near death except for the green star polyps that recovered, back from the dead. I replaced the top sponge in the 12 gallon's filter.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 75.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.54
6 Gallon Tank: 76.1 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.82
Make up water: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.17

The ballast arrived on 3/21/11 while I was at work. My father, who is a retired electrical engineer, was able to put it together even though his vision is failing. He had to solder the connections and said, despite them saying it was an easy thing to replace, I would not have been able to do it. When I got home, I plugged it in, and it worked! Yippee!

On 3/26/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 74.6 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.88
6 Gallon Tank: 75.7 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 8.04
Make up water: 75.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.36

On 4/2/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 75.0 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.09
6 Gallon Tank: 76.2 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 8.16
Make up water: 75.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.36

On 4/9/11, I did the usual. I realized that only the zebra and scarlet reef hermit crabs are still alive; I haven't seen the others this year. My 12 gallon is shameful but the 6 gallon still has soon happy corals.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 75.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.17
6 Gallon Tank: 76.1 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 8.12
Make up water: 75.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.30

On 4/14/11, I received 16 tiny cerith snails and a clump of Chaetomorpha macroalgae from another aquarist which went in to my 12 gallon tank. I gave the aquarist a piece of my green star polyps from the 6 gallon the week before. I have no more to spare in case you want some too. The snails are only 1/8 to 1/4 of in inch, very small, and they stay small. I hope they can eat some of the algae that has smothered the tank but do not themselves overtake the tank. They were breeding in the tank from which they came.

On 4/16/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.11
6 Gallon Tank: 76.4 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 8.10
Make up water: 76.3 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.32

On 4/20/11, I changed the two lamps in the 12 gallon nano tank.

On 4/23/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 74.8 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.78
6 Gallon Tank: 75.8 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.95
Make up water: 75.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.22

On 4/27/11, I changed the lamp, both fans, and the nightlights in the 6 gallon nano reef. It took an hour. The replacement nightlights had to be rewired as they are wired differently in the smaller tank. I had to remove and return some 30 screws to do all this!

That night, the moonlights did not even come on! I will have to find time later in the next few weeks to take it all apart again!

On 4/30/11, I did the usual. I had no time to work on the moonlights.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 77.8 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.21
6 Gallon Tank: 77.1 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 8.15
Make up water: 76.6 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.17

On 5/4/11, I fixed the moonlights on the six gallon. The plug wasn't just not exactly touching. It seemed to have mostly just come out. It took about 20 minutes to take the cover off and put it back on.

On 5/7/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 76.7 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.00
6 Gallon Tank: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.08
Make up water: 75.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.08

On 5/14/11, I did the usual. I have not seen Minty (peppermint shrimp with the cyst) now in weeks so he is presumed dead.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 78.5 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.80
6 Gallon Tank: 77.3 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.86
Make up water: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 8.03

On 5/21/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter. Whenever I go that, the pH readings always go lower than they had been.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 78.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.54
6 Gallon Tank: 77.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.66
Make up water: 77.0 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.96

I had not seen Peppy, the peppermint shrimp in the 6 gallon, since about 5/23/11. He seemed fine when last spotted. He had been coming out each night to eat. I have seen a lot of Scary the crab though.

On 5/28/11, I did the usual. The salt mix is supposed to give a pH near 8.5 with RO water. I even add extra buffer, and yet, it was not even up to a pH of 8 with this batch. Later, I saw Peppy! Yeah, she's alive! I don't know why she has been hiding.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.7 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.73
6 Gallon Tank: 78.8 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.71
Make up water: 78.2 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.81

On 6/4/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 78.7 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.76
6 Gallon Tank: 78.8 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.78
Make up water: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.77

On 6/11/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.2 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.70
6 Gallon Tank: 78.2 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.70
Make up water: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.79

On 6/18/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.2 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.59
6 Gallon Tank: 78.2 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.64
Make up water: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.82

On 6/25/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 80.3 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.82
6 Gallon Tank: 78.5 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.70
Make up water: 76.6 degrees F, 1.0252 SG, pH 7.75

On 7/2/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 78.3 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.73
6 Gallon Tank: 78.0 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.75
Make up water: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.87

On 7/9/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.0 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.47
6 Gallon Tank: 77.8 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.57
Make up water: 78.8 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.88

On 7/16/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter. Interestingly, I got a pH of 7.49 on the 12 gallon's water but then, I re-tested it after the other two waters again and got 7.70 on the re- test. The meter always takes a really long time to equilibrate off the first reading, presumably from the storage solution (or pH 4.0 calibrating buffer solution in this case) and its buffering capabilities. I found the empty shell of the smaller, different species of nassarius snail in the 12 gallon tank. He/she died.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.0 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.49
6 Gallon Tank: 78.0 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.56
Make up water: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.70

On 7/23/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 80.3 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.82
6 Gallon Tank: 78.7 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.77
Make up water: 76.5 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.79

On 7/30/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 80.0 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.64
6 Gallon Tank: 78.0 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.58
Make up water: 76.1 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.65

On 8/6/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.8 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.57
6 Gallon Tank: 77.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.57
Make up water: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.65

On 8/13/11, I did the usual. I calibrated the pH meter.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 80.0 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.69
6 Gallon Tank: 77.6 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.61
Make up water: 77.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.68

On 8/20/11, I did the usual.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.9 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.70
6 Gallon Tank: 78.5 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.62
Make up water: 76.4 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.70

On 8/27/11, I did the usual. I tried to work fast as Hurricane Irene approached.

The water test results for the day were:
12 Gallon Tank: 79.1 degrees F, 1.0255 SG, pH 7.63
6 Gallon Tank: 77.2 degrees F, 1.025 SG, pH 7.57
Make up water: 76.2 degrees F, 1.026 SG, pH 7.68

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My Nano Reefs Part Thirteen - 3/11 to 8/11

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